All Looks Good For Saturday Launch

The countdown to launch of space shuttle Endeavour on its STS-127 mission began at 0900 Wednesday at T-43 hours.

Preparations to begin the countdown have stayed on schedule as NASA prepares for liftoff of Endeavour on Saturday at 0717 EDT. The seven STS-127 crew members arrived at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility late Monday night.

"I have no issues to report," said NASA Test Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson during a prelaunch status briefing from Kennedy on Tuesday. "The STS-127 flight crew, Endeavour and the launch team are all ready to proceed with their launch countdown call-to-stations Thursday."

"The teams here at Kennedy Space Center have been working extremely hard to try to get to this point," said NASA Test Director Steve Payne during a countdown status briefing Wednesday. "But it's paid off, and we have a vehicle poised at the pad that's ready to go."

The weather forecast at the Florida launch site is expected to cooperate with final launch preparations and should also be favorable at launch time.

FMI: www.nasa.gov